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04 Mar 2015 9:40:28am

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I don't think I'm saying what you think I am. Truth comes in many forms. Sometimes it is believed on faith, perhaps as part of a religious tradition, like the one I suppose that you adhere to. At other times we assent to a rational kind of truth that on the evidence it would seem perverse to ignore. Either way we're accountable to a standard of truth that exists in the world, whether we believe in a creator, in the same creator, or just in living an examined life.

So science may not be the only kind of truth that people choose to respect in their lives, but in multicultural and pluralistic societies it often provides a more broadly accepted basis for rational decision making that is especially useful when other forms of agreement are absent.

Any real ability we may have to soundly judge what is true with respect to the behaviours of others depends upon reconciling the differing perspectives of the people involved with their common understanding about how the world works.

Pretty much everyone totally agrees that a human blastocyst that develops into an embryo, that develops into a baby is genetically distinct from its progenitors. What we disagree upon is that the collection of cells the has not yet developed into a fully functioning human being is in fact equivalent with a baby. And that is a scientific fact that you have as yet it seems failed to appreciate.

Your opening complaint that science is not the only source of truth is inconsistent with your use of it in your closing line statements. Those remarks being inaccurate fail to establish an accepted common understanding about how the world works. Thus it becomes increasingly difficult for anyone to see why you've placed emphasis where you have leaving aside any sense of compassion for the parents of deformed children.